1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to production inventory management, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing an advanced material management center.
2. Description of Related Art
Supply chain planning comprises the logistical planning of a supply chain and is essential to the success of many of today's manufacturing firms. Most manufacturing firms rely on supply chain planning in some form to ensure the timely delivery of products in response to customer demands. Typically, supply chain planning is hierarchical in nature, extending from distribution and production planning driven by customer orders, to materials and capacity requirements planning, to shop floor scheduling, manufacturing execution, and deployment of products. The goal of supply chain planning is to ensure the smooth functioning of different aspects of production, from the ready supply of components to meet production demands to the timely transportation of finished goods from the factory to the customer.
Prior to the introduction of computerized scheduling systems, the scheduling of work orders in a manufacturing facility was performed manually. The person responsible for determining the work schedule manually assigned the work to be performed to specific dates. The manual scheduling process involved determining what work was to be performed and the time, materials, and resources required to perform it. However, this process was costly, very tedious and often inaccurate.
As commercial computer systems became available, manufacturers began using computerized systems that assisted in the storage and retrieval of information relevant to the scheduling of work and management of inventory in a manufacturing facility. Furthermore, today's modern supply chain often encompasses a vast array of data. Moreover, the planning applications that create and dynamically revise plans in the supply chain in response to changing demands and capacity require rapid access to data concerning the flow of materials through the supply chain.
Many types of manufacturing database management and inventory control systems exist today. Each of these systems views the process from the narrow viewpoint of the goals of such a system. For example, inventory control processes tend to determine when the inventory of an item is projected to be depleted and when to order goods to prevent such depletion. The inventory control process does not generally take into account the problems associated with availability of materials and machines to satisfy the inventory demand. On the other hand the manufacturing control process considers the availability problem but does not take into account the effect of a sales promotion that will deplete an inventory faster than projected. A marketing department in preparing a sales promotion will often not consider the effect that promotion will have on availability, inventory and profit margin but tends to focus on sales goals. What is needed is a system that will support managers with each of these viewpoints in understanding the effect of the various decisions that can be made on the supply chain as a whole both currently and into the near future.
Requisitioning systems that manage and process purchase orders are well known in the art. Such systems generally process purchase orders for items and track a local inventory. These systems employ essentially one-way communications between a terminal or local computer and a host computer to initiate purchase orders; the systems may also manage a local inventory.
Such systems do not, however, provide the capability for effectively managing a Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory site. In supply chain management, one goal is to have real time reaction up and down the supply chain. For example, many industries have moved to just-in-time models to supply parts to assembly line positions and warehouse inventories. Many businesses and organizations are seeking to implement JIT inventory stockrooms to make the most efficient use of available space and manpower, while at the same time avoiding costly delays caused by waiting for out of stock items. Supplier and customer organizations will sometimes agree that the supplier will retain ownership of the inventory at the JIT site, which is reserved for subsequent sale to that customer. Other times, they will agree that the customer will own the inventory at the JIT site, but that it will continue to be managed and replenished by the supplier.
Just-in-time supply models are cost efficient because they keep inventory low and allow quick reaction by the manufacturers to configuration changes. These same manufacturers, however, must constantly adjust the supply chain to ensure that no valuable production time is lost because an assembly line runs out of a necessary part. At the same time, customers have become more demanding and frequently demand an accurate promised delivery date of an ordered product.
However, the demands of JIT inventory management are not well met by current requisition and inventory management systems. For example, a JIT warehouse may be implemented proximate a manufacturing site, i.e., within blocks or a few miles of the manufacturing site. As mentioned, the JIT warehouse stores components needed during the manufacture of products and is usually managed by a third party, e.g., a contractor or a parts supplier. For ease of identification of the inventory components, each component may be identified by title of the component supplier until the manufacturer needs the goods for production. Moreover, the JIT warehouse may be implemented as a plurality of warehouses.
Because the JIT warehouses are located near the manufacturing plant, inventory may be moved from the JIT warehouses to the manufacturing site quickly, e.g., by truck. However, a needed component may require delivery from the warehouse to manufacturing floor. Thus, some inventory can be maintained at the manufacturing plant to fill the gap between generation of a delivery request to the JIT warehouse and arrival of the requested component at the manufacturing plant. However, inspection of specific component needs to take place at the manufacturing plant, regardless of production input. Furthermore, movement from the JIT warehouse to the manufacturing plant is typically by a palette. Thus, some small components are delivered which exceed the input requirements at the manufacturing plant. Accordingly, efficient maintenance of the inventory stock at a minimum level is a challenge.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing an advanced material management center.